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The old woman winked and nodded in understanding. "Ah,si, si,you needla privacidad. Come, come."
She led them up a flight of stairs into a small room with a vaulted ceiling made of red bricks. A glass case was built into one wall, with hundreds of glass bottles in all shapes, sizes, and colors lining the shelves. Another wall was covered in framed photographs. There was only one table, and it was tall with an intricate design carved into the wood and four matching bar stools.
Paola latched on to Landon’s arm excitedly."Mijo, my grandsons, they watch on tv last week. So excited. Jump and scream, wake upel bebewhen you get another big hit. How many is that,mijito?"
"Home runs? Eighteen this season, Paola."
"Ohhh, so proud of you,mijo. So proud."
Paola beamed, so Landon beamed, and Katie melted a little inside.
"Drinks?" Paola asked.
Landon nodded to Katie to order first.
"Iced tea, please," she said.
The old woman frowned. "Only tea? We have wine, beer,margaritas,whatever you like. On the house for ourespecialnew guest."
"Oh no thank you, I’m working," Katie reminded her.
"She’s working, I’m not," Landon said. "I’ll have a Dos Equis and just bring us a platter of tacos, Paola. Whatever you’re making today. A little sample of your best forCatalinahere. You cool with that?"
The last question had been directed at her and Katie got a nod out despite her belly flip flopping at the accent he used on the Spanish version of her name.
She left her bag at the table and went over to examine the bottles, which ended up being all different varieties of tequila. Every single kind produced, in fact, according to the plaque on the wall. She moved on to the photographs. Paola appeared in all of them, her arm around various celebrities and politicians, all taken in this very room.
"Wow, the Vice President ate here! And Katy Perry. And Brad Pitt! That’s so neat!"
She made her way back over to Landon. He’d pulled out a stool for her and was already seated on the other side of the table.
"Neat?"he asked with raised eyebrows. "Primo Taco is better thanneat. Wait until you try the food. And by the way,Ieat here. Way more often than Brad Pitt and I’m as big of a celebrity as he is. At least in this neck of the woods."
Katie craned and swiveled her neck, making a show of looking around the entire room, checking to see if they were truly alone. Landon’s brows came together and he tilted his head at her in question.
"This room’s kind of small," she explained, as she slid into her seat. "I’m just wondering how Paolaanda platter of tacos are going to fit in here if your head gets any bigger."
Landon’s face lit up and he gave her a nod of admiration for having the balls to bust his. The smile on his face—the smile she’d brought to his face—made him so unbelievably gorgeous, that Katie crossed her legs and squeezed them together. The urge was simply too strong not to.
Paola waddled back in with drinks and while she fussed over Landon again, Katie reminded herself that this was not a date. This was lunch, the most un-date like meal of the day, to which he’d invited her out of guilt and probably boredom. One mid-day meal did not equate to any sort of romantic interest in her…and she sure as hell couldn’t act on it if it did. This was work and she needed to make it about work. Maybe come up with a story to replace the profile on TIFF?
"So what does ElMagomean?" she asked as Paola bustled out of the room again.
Landon took his ball cap off and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "El Mago…the wizard."
"Okaaay…do I need to ask where that came from?"
"You shouldn’t have to. You’ve seen me play ball."
Katie groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh lord, someone save me from this man’s overblown ego!" The dimple in her left cheek gave her away and she was right behind him when he started laughing.
When their chuckles died down, he explained. "The first time I came here, it was after we beat the D-Backs in overtime to go to the playoffs. I got two double plays that night and hit a three-run homer in the eleventh. Anyway, I came here with my crew after, the tequila flowed well past closing, and Manuel and his guys joined in the celebration. To be honest, I don’t remember how exactly the El Mago thing arose, but it’s stuck ever since." A nostalgic smile tugged at his lips as he took a swig of beer.
"So is this how life is for you?" Katie asked. "Always eating in the back room?"
Landon shrugged one shoulder. "Not always. I come here a lot so Paola hooks me up when I need to keep a low profile."
He took another long pull off the beer bottle and this time his eyes drifted downward. Katie followed his gaze to where the skirt on her sundress was caught between her legs, exposing an extra expanse of thigh.
